The father of a seven-year-old girl who died riding the quad bike she was given for Christmas has been charged with manslaughter.

Gary Cooke, 46, gave the £1,000 vehicle to Elizabeth Cooke last year and she was involved in a fatal accident 24 hours later while driving behind her father’s car on Boxing Day.

Elizabeth’s brother Jack, 10, was also given a quad bike and both children were said to be so excited about their gifts that they wanted to try them out straight away

The vehicles are understood to have been QuadZilla Pro-Shark quad bikes, which can be bought online for around £1,200.

The two children were travelling behind their father’s Range Rover along Fingrith Hall Lane, an unlit, winding road near the family home at Bluebell Farm at around 7pm. Elizabeth’s red, petrol-engine quad bike then collided with a Range Rover travelling in the opposite direction.

She was taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, but died soon after arrival. Post-mortem tests showed that she suffered multiple injuries.

Her father was arrested in January and released on bail while police investigated the incident.

Crown Prosecution Service sources said Mr Cooke would appear before magistrates in Grays, Essex, on July 31.

Chequered history of quad bikes

— Quad bikes, designed for children as young as 4 and capable of reaching 40mph, can be bought on the internet for about £300

— Quad bikes for children come in a number of engine sizes. The lowest is 50cc, but even one with an engine this size can reach 40mph

— The adult quad bikes have larger engines and can reach 60mph

— It is illegal for anyone under 16 to ride one on a public road

— When driving on a road riders must comply with all of the regulations that are imposed on road-going vehicles, such as having a tax disc, insurance and a licence

— Anyone of any age can ride one on private land, but only with the permission of the landowner

— Riding quad bikes in public spaces such as parks is prohibited

— A number of organisations have urged parents recently to think twice before buying quad bikes for their children. Brake, the road safety charity, said that the machines are hard to handle and respond suddenly. Because quad bikes have rear-wheel drive they can flip over easily when going up or down a steep hill. A spokesman for the charity said: “Even with permission to use the machines on private land, children should not be put in control – the sheer power and speed is dangerous wherever they are used”

— The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said that motorised “toys” such as quad bikes and mini-motorcycles were becoming increasingly popular as the items became cheaper to buy and more easily available online

— According to the society there were 2,600 quad bike-related accidents in 2000 among leisure riders. This figure rose to 3,200 in 2002

— The Health and Safety Executive estimates that quad bikes are implicated in two workplace fatalities a year and estimates that accidents cause more than 1,000 serious injuries a year

— A number of celebrities have been injured in quad bike accidents. It took a year for Rik Mayall, the actor and comedian, to recover from the head injuries sustained in his accident, and Ozzy Osbourne suffered several broken bones after an accident in 2003

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